Metapanax davidii

A very interesting and unusual hardy evergreen shrub in the Ivy family and closely related to Schefflera. Metapanax davidii has been known under a few different genera such as Acanthopanax, Dendropanax, Nothopanax and Panax and is sometimes referred to as the Duckfoot Ivy Tree, although this rare shrub can scarcely be described as a tree.

This species s found in moist forests in temperate China and north Vietnam at 800–3,000m.It resembles a subtropical, arborescent ivy and has usually simple, although sometimes palmately divided or compound leaves. Our seedling plants show some peculiar variability as young plants, some having quite fingered palmate or trifoliate leaves, others with almost entire leaves. It appears that it goes through various stages of juvenility.

So far, this plant has been totally hardy with us in Hampshire. Our original stock has come from friend and Plantsman Roy Lancaster and I believe was originally collected from China by Mikanori Ogisu.